Your Guide to Local SEO

Local SEO aims to help local businesses be more visible in local search results. Local SEO has several advantages, from enhanced traffic to improved conversion rate. Every company that serves a specific geographic location needs a regional SEO strategy. 

Follow these tips to leverage local SEO. 

Audit Your Website 

Before you optimize your website for local search, audit it to identify any technical or on-page SEO issues such as broken links, duplicate content, missing Alt tags, and low text-to-HTML ratio. Address these issues before creating new content for your website or building backlinks. You can use an SEO tool to conduct a site audit or reach out to a local SEO company near you for help. 

Do Keyword Research 

Use SEO tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush to conduct a competitive analysis. A competitor analysis aims to find out what keywords your competitors are ranking for and where their backlinks are coming from. 

Once your chosen SEO tool generates a list of keywords your competition ranks for organically, study search volume and competition metrics to determine if these keywords are a good fit for your website. 

Use Google's Keyword Planner and other keyword research tools to filter keyword searches based on location. This will give you an idea of popular location-specific phrases. First, create a list of locally relevant keywords. Then, ensure they appear in your site's meta content and URLs.

Optimize Your Google My Business Listing 

Google My Business is a free, easy-to-use tool local business can use to generate more customer reviews, drive website traffic, and more. You can set up your Google My Business account in a few easy steps. 

Add business pictures to your business profile. When sharing information about your business, ensure the business name matches the official business name. Do not stuff keywords into the business name. Instead, provide contact details and business address. When you relocate your business or change its name, edit your GMB profile to reflect accurate and up-to-date information. 

Get Reviews From Happy Customers 

Customer reviews provide social proof, helping drive purchases. They help build credibility and trust. Many people trust brands recommended by real buyers instead of advertisements. Positive reviews can help improve local search rankings. 

Here are some tips to get more positive customer reviews 

➢ Offer incentives such as discount coupons, loyalty points, and gifts to customers for writing reviews 

➢ Entrust someone with the responsibility of asking for reviews in person after the close of a sale 

➢ Simplify the process of writing and posting reviews

➢ Send a post-purchase mail to customers requesting them to leave a review on your site. Before reaching out to customers, conduct a customer satisfaction survey to ensure you're not approaching dissatisfied buyers 

Create Localized Content 

Create content based on local news, events, or stories. Include pictures of local attractions, colors, and themes related to the local culture in your content. Create videos about charities or other local businesses you support, location-based listicles, and how-to-articles explain location-specific challenges and suggest ways to overcome them. 

Create Localized Landing Pages 

Localized landing pages are created specifically to rank in local searches. Add location-specific content to your localized landing pages. Optimize your content with geo-specific keywords. Optimize H1, H2, and H3 tags. Add images to your content and include internal links in it. Make sure business information such as contact details, business name, address, and business hours on localized pages is accurate. Keep this information up-to-date. 

Leverage Online Business Directories 

List your business on reputable business directories such as BBB, YellowPages, and Yelp. Submitting business names, phone numbers, addresses, and other business information to localized directories is a great way to improve local SEO. 

WSI Biggs Digital is a reputable digital marketing agency serving Atlanta. We offer top-notch local SEO services. Want to build a killer regional SEO strategy from scratch? To make an appointment, call (404) 682-2991.